"Study as if you were to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow." (Maria Mitchell)

When thinking about a way to describe “literary reading,” my mind goes in a million different directions. I immediately want to say that literary reading is simply reading literature: reading, as in saying words in your head as you skim over text, and literature, as in compilations of classic works.
However, my initial thoughts of how I might explain “literary reading” seem too simplistic and easy. As a future elementary teacher, if my view of reading was one that wasn’t challenging to my students, or one that didn’t allow room to continually explore the new possibilities of reading, I would not be fulfilling my inherent responsibility as an educator.
From my personal experience in school and also my experience tutoring many students in several subjects in different grade levels, unfortunately reading is seen as a chore. In effect, this distorted perception that reading isn’t fun causes students to be less and less motivated to not only stop exploring the world of literature, but also other subjects as reading is a main component of learning. It doesn’t help matters that too often teachers either don’t know their students well enough to choose readings that will perk their interest and learning, or have a hard time relating to their students in the midst of discussions.
The clichéd thought that is it necessary, depending on what grade, for students to read certain literary works in order to be well rounded or complete an English credit seems absurd to me. There may be a few select students in each classroom who are excited to read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens—and that is great. However, what benefit are the remaining students, who have to be pulled along by their teeth to get through the book, gaining? I’m certainly not arguing Charles Dickens shouldn’t be taught, however, I am making the point that it is natural for humans to desire reading things that they can relate to and also, that are presented in a way that makes them willingly curious to read them.
The next issue is: what are some examples of reading that is interesting? How can I help my students get self-absorbed into the text and make meaning out of it? Well, the answers aren’t always so easy, and they’re ones that I hope to always consider. It is almost a given that over time, when new information is put into the brain, that the old information is pushed aside and fades away if it isn’t used. It still may be there, but it gets harder and harder to retain. However when one can link their learning through personal experiences, the memory and personal gain is much greater.
I am amused by a cartoon by Randy Glasbergen which illustrates the idea that students, probably more often than not, get an overload of facts that have no real meaning.
So how does this all come together with “literary reading?” Essentially, literary reading should be an adventure; it should be a quest to discover new realms and exciting worlds without any outside distractions; and most of all—it shouldn’t be a chore.